Sunday, 21 December 2014

The Case of the Junkyard Dog-Episode 1

Jogging
is not supposed to kill you. Nevertheless, Sue Charles was about to die.

Of
course, the fifty-five year-old Corporate Communications Specialist didn't know
when she laced on her New Balance shoes at 4:30 that this morning’s
run would be her last.

Sue
had just touched the 'one way' sign on Deer Pen Road, the turnaround point of
her daily 5k run when she first heard the sharp snap of a dry twig. She didn't
stop and scan her surroundings, there was no point, the sun hadn't even begun
to brighten the August sky so the woods on all sides were jet black.

The
next time she realised that she wasn't alone - not counting the park's racoons,
mice, birds, insects, harmless snake and, of course, the bison, goats, deer,
and Llamas of the High Park Zoo - Sue Charles was near the kid's playground
just off West Road. The sound of heavy breathing, not her's, was unmistakable
and a little frightening.

Even
more frightening for the three-time winner of the Chilly Half Marathon,
two-time winner of the Kitchener MS Charity Run and soon-to-be participant in
the Atlanta Marathon, was her heart rate, which according to her Fitpro Monitor
was 145 bpm.

"Too
much!" she said in a whisper between breaths. Still, as she passed Light
Pole 233 - the 3.5 kilometer mark in her circuit - she decided to pick up the
pace. Not a strategy her running coach would have approved of, but she needed
to reach the well lit and heavily traveled Bloor Street quickly.

Sue
had just accelerated when something grabbed her waist. The added resistance
caused her to falter, but only briefly. Only until she began pumping her arms
powerfully, lowered her centre of gravity an inch or so, and further extended
her stride.

It
worked.

'”Whatever
you want buddy, you’re not gonna get it!" she thought
then veered suddenly to the left and raced into a stand of tall birch trees.

Sue
found some comfort in the forest. The firm ground provided good traction and
the trees were spaced far enough apart to allow her unimpeded travel while
close enough to make it difficult for her attacker to ambush her from an angle.
Furthermore, she thought she could see the light of Bloor Street in the
distance. Unfortunately, what she didn't see - until too late - was the
three-inch diameter branch jutting into her path at forehead height.

Sue
Charles figured that she must have been unconscious for only a few minutes. Her
sweat hadn't evaporated and the sky's halftone purple was no lighter than
before she went for her 'nap.'

She
stood cautiously, brushed the dead leaves and dirt from her clothes, wiped the
dark, sticky liquid from her eyes, then resumed running, slowly at first then
rapidly gaining speed.

The
stand of birch suddenly gave way to Erin Bales Football Field where eight
people - Sue couldn't tell if they were men or women - stood bent over staring
at their own small area of grass lit only by the flashlights mounted on their
foreheads.

The
worm-pickers were not a new sight to Sue. She'd encountered them before. Once
she even tried to strike up a conversation with one, a skeletal woman who had
looked up and half-smiled at her, but Sue's inability to understand Polish, or
Ukrainian, or whatever the woman spoke.

She
could have stopped and asked for their help, their protection but she didn't.
"I have this under control" she thought - incorrectly as it turned
out - because no sooner had Sue Charles entered the last well-landscaped patch
of tall bush that separated her from the sodium-lit safety of Bloor Street than
the attacker reached out from behind with a yellow handled box-cutter and
sliced her jugular. Sue Charles's limp body slid belly-first to the ground and
her life began pooling around her left cheek.

{{ }}

The
basement still stank of the solvent Mr. Alvarez used last Saturday to clean
Jack Muir High School's aging boiler. Neither Bridgit nor Emma had yet arrived
so small talk dominated the conversation, although Keisha once tried
unsuccessfully to introduce the topic of Do-it-Yourself DNA testing.

At
8:32, twenty-eight minutes before the bell, the air was broken by the sound of
someone jerking open the basement door then hurrying down the stairs.

Bridget
had today's Toronto Star tucked under her left arm, the Toronto Sun under her
right and the Globe and Mail open in front of her.

She
sat on the a wood crate and said with an exasperated tone, "October 12
meeting of the Grade 12 Detective Club is hereby convened. We can do anything
old people can do but..."

Although
only Bridgit spoke the first portion of the Club's motto, they all recited
"BETTER!" in unison."

"Why
the long face?" Kaseka asked Bridgit.

Keisha
blurted out, "Unfortunate genes."

Bridgit
shot Keisha 'a look' then held up the newspapers she was holding and said in a
depressed tone, "I've got nothing for us. Squat!"

"What!
No crimes to solve? No criminals to catch?" Emma asked in a surprised
tone.

Bridgit
replied, "Not unless we want to help the police find...." then
pointed to the mug shot of a white male with serious hat-head, a stupid grin,
and a plaque with the number 238970993 printed on it, ..."this escaped
killer or assist the Court of the Hague to track down Andriy Khodakovsky -
nickname 'the impaler' - the head of the Muslim death squad that operates in
the Ukrainian region of Luhansk."

Janet
spoke first, "in tracking down not 'to track down' You incorrectly used
the preposition 'to' and anyway, with his photo on the front page of the
largest news publication in Canada he might as well surrender and regarding the
Ukraine, Mr. Sheppard will never approve the travel expenses."

"....
and on the subject of 'expenses' ... I got a part time job..." Emma said
in a meek tone.

"Thought
you already have a part-time job," Bridgit responded.

"Another
one - usher at the circus - which is gonna kinda cut into my..."

"Me
too," Heri added.

"Me
too what?" asked Bridgit.

"Me
too I've got a job. Working the Municipal election. Just one day, and a three-hour
training session tonight."

"I'm
doing 30 hours a week," said Emma quietly.

Kaseka
half-turned toward Emma and said with a sarcastic tone, "Ahhh Hello! Huge
midterm Science and Technology project due in three weeks?"

"I
have no choice... none," Emma said.

Kaseka
was about to reply but instead he stopped and noted Emma's face, the dark
circles that had recently formed around her eyes, her slouched shoulders, her
fingernails - bitten to bloody stumps. And he decided to remain silent. Kaseka
knew that Heri took on the election job simply to feed his love of politics and
government affairs, but Emma's motivation he strongly suspected was money...
likely for university but there also could have been a secret boyfriend in the
picture, or gambling debts Or drugs. Emma was not one to share information
about her life outside of school.

Bridgit
said to Emma, "No problem but if one of us doesn't get a text from you at
least once a day then we're calling 911."

And
they all laughed, all except Emma.

"All
right, meeting dismissed," Bridgit said in an official tone then added,
"...but I need all of you to keep checking your favourite newsfeeds,
social sites, and the twitterverse... Sherlock was only as good as his last
case and after rescuing the Scotts and Gloria....and kicking the perps butt, we
need a case we can sink our teeth into as my grandfather would say... and he
wore dentures," Bridgit said with a wide smile on her face.

Everyone
- including Emma - laughed.

{{ }}

Students
weren't allowed to sit on the front steps - "tripping hazard"
according to the administration's edict posted in last winter's edition of the
Muir Stallion, their student-run newspaper so Bridgit thought was strange to
see Margo sitting where she wasn't allowed.

Bridgit
figured that Margo was waiting for her parents to pick her up. Still, 'parents
waiting’was always done in
the Principal's office, not the front steps.

"Is
that how you would interpret Mandela's comments Ms. Stein?"

"Absolutely,"
Bridgit replied and the other students immediately burst into laughter.

Mr.
Agee loved to embarrass students who 'drifted off' in his class. Bridgit
scanned the room of laughing faces, then glanced at Mr. Agee, then turned back
toward the window. She didn't care if they were laughing at her, what she did
care about was Margo, and why she was crying, or at least that's what Brigit
surmised from Margo's hunched back and repeated passes of the palm of her left
hand over her eyes.

"May
I use the washroom, please?" Margo asked Mr. Agee but she was already
half-way to the door by the time she uttered the last word of her request and
never heard his answer.

{{ }}

"Hey
Margo," Bridgit said in a soft voice as she approached from behind.

Margo
turned, glanced at Bridgit and forced a smile.

"Hey
Bridgit."

"What's
up?"

"My
Auntie Sue died - killed really - yesterday morning. Parent's coming to pick me
up. Don't think I'll be able to come back to Muir. The police say that Auntie
Sue was murdered by a... by a... dog or some kind of animal with sharp claws.
Mom and Dad are gonna hide me out in some safe location until they figure out
how to remove the family curse."

"Curse?"

"Evidently,
it skips a generation so I guess I'm up next. Auntie left all her money to me -
in trust - so when I turn 22 I'll be rich, very very rich - if I can avoid his
jaws that long."

"Jaws?"

"The
'Junkyard Dog,' that's what Mom called him. Black with a huge body, razor-sharp
claws, and eyes that glow red in the night. Stupid huh?"

“Still, just about
everybody in the family believes he exists and now..."

Just
then a fire engine red Audi A5 pulled to a stop in front of the school and the
passenger door swung open. Bridgit couldn't tell who was driving but from the
three glistening rings on the driver's left hand, which gripped the top of the
steering wheel, she figured it was a woman.

"Gotta
go," Margo said in a sad voice then stood and began walking toward the
Audi, but when she was still ten or so feet from her destination she turned
hesitantly and spoke with a mixture of sadness and embarrassment, "If the
Club isn't busy with a case.. I know you probably are... but if you're not then
would you consider trying to find out who killed my Auntie Sue? I don't believe
in curses or dogs with glowing red eyes."

"Nor
do I," replied Bridgit.

Moments
later Margo and the red Audi were just a dot in the distance.

{{ }}

Because
she composed it while running back to Mr. Agee's class, the text message
Bridgit sent the Club members just read, "we have a case. Meet out front
after school."

{{ }}

Janet
had basketball practice so the rest of them hung out at the Second Cup down the
street until she finished. It was 5:12 and already night had fallen when the
five of them pulled up in front of 14 Manor Road.

Ramu
began checking the front windows for movement the instant he leapt from the
back seat of Juggernaut.

"How'd
you find..."

"The
Wizard of course," she replied in a matter-of-fact tone.

"You
ever tell us whether the Wiz is a her or a him?" Keisha asked.

"No,
I didn't."

"It's
not nice to keep secrets from your Club mates," Keisha replied.

"OK,
you're right, I should tell you, and I will now, so listen very, very
closely."

Bridgit
spoke softly, and at an even cadence..."whatever, whatever a Wiz there was,
the Wizard of Oz is one..."

And
then Janet added her voice, "... because of the wonderful things she or he
does."

"OK,
we won't ask again," Keisha said.

"Yeah,
you will," Bridgit replied.

Both
yesterday's and that morning's copies of the Toronto Star lay on the reddish
brown welcome mat. Bridgit scooped them up

Just
the signal burglars look for," she said

Kaseka
had the front door unlocked in under thirty seconds but he hadn't swung it open
more that a few inches when a dozen or so flies escaped, bring with them the
whiff of death.

"She
wasn't murdered at home was she?"

"High
Park, besides, tissue doesn't decay at that rate. Whatever is emanating that
odour didn't die just this morning. Or yesterday morning for that matter."

Bridgit
pushed past Kaseka into the lobby and flipped on the light.

Kaseka gave her a questioning look.

"It's
OK for the place to look as if Auntie Sue is home. The media hasn't released
the vic's name so the neighbours aren't going to know she's dead," Bridgit
said in between gasps as she removed a gym shirt from her backpack and tied it
over her mouth and nose while the others either pulled their t-shirts up over
the lower halves of their faces or just cupped their hands over their mouth and
nose. Neither method kept out the stench but at least it prevented them from
inhaling a fly.

"I'll
check the kitchen. Keisha you take the living room. Kaseka, the den. Ramu and
Janet upstairs.

Bridgit
hadn't made it to the kitchen door when Keisha yelled out, "Dead
cat!".

"Ditto
in the den," said Kaseka

"Make
that two more dead cats in the living room plus one small skeleton and an a
little pile of miscellaneous bones on the coffee table."

The
two foot high pile of dirty dishes first caught her eye but only momentarily.
Then she saw the high chair.

"Hey!
Any of you see evidence of a child living here?"

"Empty
crib in the master bedroom," replied Ramu from the floor above.

"Smurf
baby blanket crumpled on the floor of the second bedroom," Janet called
out.

"Dust
covered toy truck in the living room," shouted Kaseka

"Baby
stuff scattered over the living room, but all of it looks unused, still in its
original packaging," Keisha said matter-of-factly, "so where's
the...."

"Janet?"
Bridgit said in a normal voice, then repeated, "Janet!" much louder
but only silence answered.

Bridgit
reacted immediately by whipping out her Protec flashlight and hurried up the
stairs. She found Ramu standing against the west wall of the master bedroom.
His body was stiff, his eyes nearly as wide as Kaseka's new OLED TV.

“I don’t like the dark,”
Ramu said in soft voice.

Bridgit
knew to speak slow, soothing tone. "I know but I'm here now. We're gonna
walk out of the bedroom, down the stairs and outside. We need someone to keep
an eye out for any suspicious activity."

Ramu
just nodded in agreement and forced a smile. His hand was clammy and stiff when
she took it and began leading him out of the room. But they hadn't made it more
than half-way to the stairs when Bridgit stopped suddenly, fell still, then
turned toward Ramu.

"You
smell wet dog?"

Bridgit
paused for a moment. inhaled through her nose then said with conviction,
"No", but a half moment later said in a whisper, "Make that a
yes."

At
first the growling was almost imperceptible. More a directionless rumble than a
sound. But as it grew in volume and ferociousness, Bridgit determined that it was
coming from behind. Bridgit would have preferred to keep going - the top of the
stair case was only three or four paces away, but with the second growl Ramu
froze and she with left with no option other to stop as well.

Ramu
didn't turn and considering the rigidity that had seized his body, he probably
couldn't have turned, but she could, and did. At first there was nothing before
her but a black void, but then two red eyes that never blinked appeared out of
the darkness. At that point, she was glad Ramu hadn't turned to look and rather
wished she hadn't either.

"Walk!"
she said in a whisper and Ramu took one stiff pace forward, then another, and
another. Red Eyes didn't seem to be following them, instead the dog, if it was
a dog, seemed content to simply glare at them.

Although
the urge to turn and see if it had followed them down the stairs, Bridgit
didn't, instead she led Ramu straight to the front door, opened it, and gently
pushed him out into the night air.

She
had just shut the front door when she heard a toilet flush, then hurried
footsteps on the floor above. Janet came rushing down the stairs looking
sheepish, “Sorry, had to pee.”

“Bridgit gestured toward the second
floor and asked, “You see or hear anything up there.”

“Like what?”

Just
then Keisha said with a tone of dread in her voice, "Barbie! You gotta see
this."

Bridgit,
Kaseka, and Janet all entered the living room within moments of each other.

Keisha
was pointing at an oak chest, inlaid with mother of pearl and, unlike the other
furniture in the house, frequently dusted and lovingly polished. The chest's
lid was open, but Bridgit couldn't see inside from where she was standing.

"Tell
me that's not what I think it is," Keisha blurted out in a nasal tone, the
thumb and forefinger of her right hand pinching her nose.

The
three of them converged on the chest in unison but each of their reactions were
quite different.

Janet
and Heri stared in stunned silence.

A
wave of sadness washed over Kaseka's face

And
Bridgit, well tears began flooding her eyes and streaked down her cheeks.

"What
are you doing in my house?" The voice was male and mad. Bridgit and the
others turned toward the foyer and saw a middle-aged man, wearing a long, beige
trench coat and a black bowler hat.

Ramu
said from just inside the front door. “I tried to stop
him,”

"Your
house?" Keisha shot back.

"Exactly!
Allow me to introduce myself, I am Professor Clifton Charles the Third, brother
of Sue Charles and rightful heir to her estate. Which includes the abode in
which the four of you are currently trespassing."

Bridgit
took three paces to the right to draw Professor Charles' attention while Kaseka
and Janet walked around the chest to partially impair his view of the casket.
Keisha, moving quickly and quietly, pulled a latex glove from her right pocket,
slipped it onto her hand then removed a three quart pickle jar and set it on
the floor between her feet.